Korea, South Reciprocity Schedule


Visa Classification Fee Number of Applications Validity Period
A-1 None Multiple 60 Months
A-2 None Multiple 60 Months
A-3 [1] None Multiple 24 Months
B-1 None Multiple 120 Months
B-2 None Multiple 120 Months
B-1/B-2 None Multiple 120 Months
C-1 None Multiple 120 Months
C-1/D None Multiple 120 Months
C-2 None Multiple 12 Months
C-3 None Multiple 60 Months
D None Multiple 120 Months
E-1 [2] None Multiple 60 Months
E-2 [2] None Multiple 60 Months
F-1 None Multiple 60 Months
F-2 None Multiple 60 Months
G-1 None Multiple 60 Months
G-2 None Multiple 60 Months
G-3 None Multiple 60 Months
G-4 None Multiple 60 Months
G-5 [1] None Multiple 24 Months
H-1B None Multiple 60 Months [3]
H-1C None Multiple 60 Months [3]
H-2A None Multiple 60 Months [3]
H-2B None Multiple 60 Months [3]
H-2R None Multiple 60 Months [3]
H-3 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
H-4 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
I None Multiple 60 Months
J-1 [4] None Multiple 60 Months
J-2 [4] None Multiple 60 Months
K-1 None One 6 Months
K-2 None One 6 Months
K-3 None Multiple 24 Months
K-4 None Multiple 24 Months
L-1 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
L-2 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
M-1 None Multiple 60 Months
M-2 None Multiple 60 Months
N-8 None Multiple 60 Months
N-9 None Multiple 60 Months
NATO 1-7 N/A N/A N/A
O-1 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
O-2 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
O-3 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
P-1 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
P-2 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
P-3 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
P-4 None Multiple 60 Months [3]
Q-1 [6] None Multiple 15 Months [3]
R-1 None Multiple 60 Months
R-2 None Multiple 60 Months
S-5 [7] None One 1 Month
S-6 [7] None One 1 Month
S-7 [7] None One 1 Month
T-1 [9] N/A N/A N/A
T-2 None One 6 Months
T-3 None One 6 Months
T-4 None One 6 Months
T-5 None One 6 Months
TD [5] N/A N/A N/A
U-1 None One 1 Month
U-2 None One 1 Month
U-3 None One 1 Month
U-4 None One 1 Month
U-5 None One 1 Month
V-1 None Multiple 120 Months
V-2 None Multiple 120 Months [8]
V-3 None Multiple 120 Months [8]

Documents

Birth, Marriage, Divorce and Other Certificates

Available.  Effective January 1, 2008, new forms of family register certificates are issued by the competent government offices, Ward offices, City halls, Myun offices, Eup offices, and Dong offices, throughout the country when the individual and his/her immediate family members (parents, children, or spouse) apply for the issuance of these certificates. 

The new Family Relation Register (FRR) has been organized for each individual member of a family to protect personal information.  According to the purpose of issuance, the certificates of family relation registers can be classified into five categories:

(1)Identification certificate (Gibon jeungmyongseo)

(2)Family relation certificate (Gajokkwankye jeungmyongseo)

(3)Marriage relation certificate (Honinkwankye jeungmyongseo)

(4)Adoption relation certificate (Ipyangkwankye jeungmyongseo)

(5)Special adoption relation certificate (Chinyangja ipyangkwankye jeungmyongseo)

Please note that the Family Relation Register certificate of family relation shows names of spouse, parents (including adoptive parents), children (including adopted children) based on current family relationship.  The Identification certificate shows only the individual’s date of birth, place of birth, changed names, and death.  The Marriage Relation certificate provides the information on the individual’s marital status only.

The former Family Census Register (FCR) is still available as an archived family relation register (Jejeok Deung-Bon)  which was organized under the name of the “Head of Family.” The former FCR records personal information for the “Head of Family” and all family. This document contains information concerning birth, marriage, divorce, adoption, death, and other family history reported before January 1, 2008.  It is still fundamental to family cases and any other IV case in which the principal applicant has derivative family members.

If the individual’s birth, adoption, marriage, divorce, or death was reported after January 1, 2008, the certificate issued for that purpose should be accompanied with identification certificate (Gibbon jeungmyongseo), Family relation certificate (Gajokkwankye jeungmyongseo), and Marriage relation certificate (Honinkwankye jeungmyongseo) for applicants over 18.

The Korean National Identification (KID) number is a thirteen digit number consisting of two parts. The first part is a six-digit number representing the date of birth (YY-MM-DD). The second part, separated from the first part by a hyphen, is a seven-digit national identification number. This seven-digit number is located on the right side of the DOB on the data page of Korean passports issued in Korea, but not on passports issued elsewhere. Note that national identification numbers for males begin with "1" and numbers for females begin with "2." For Koreans born after 2000, male ID numbers start with "3" and female ID numbers start with "4."

When data entering the KID number into the IV application, the standard practice is to enter the last seven digits of the National ID number (without the six-digit DOB reference) as an alias name. The first four digits of this seven-digit number are entered as the surname, and the last three digits are entered as the first name. A trailing zero (0) should be added to the end of the first name field as a dummy variable, making it also four digits long.

Adoption Certificates

Available. A court certificate of adoption may be obtained from the district court having jurisdiction over the adopted child's residence in Korea. The child's FCR is required, containing full details of the adoption, including the full names, dates and places of birth of the adopting and birth parents, if known.

Police Records

Korean National Police Certificate (Crime-Investigation History Report:  Bomjoi-Soosa Kyongreok Johoi Hoiboseo) is available to visa applicants of any nationality who are physically present in South Korea.  The new KNPC now includes all serious crimes since 1945, regardless of expungement benefits under Korean law, and misdemeanors for five years, according to the Individual Information Protection Law of March 2003.

Applicants presently in Korea:  Foreign nationals, regardless of visa status, and Korean citizens must apply in person at any local police station.  The KNP checks non-Koreans according to the requestor’s Korean alien registration card or passport.  Korean citizens must show a Korean identity card with the Korean citizen’s unique, lifetime Korean identification number, which is found on Korean national identity cards and Korean passports adjacent to the applicant’s name.  KNP processing is no fee and takes less than one hour.  The new KNPC bears a red ink half inch square stamp on the bottom containing the Korean characters for National Police.  It is issued in Korean only and applicants must attach a complete English translation, certified as true and correct by anyone competent in Korean and English, for the visa interview.  A simple computer printout of criminal records is issued with the Korean annotation for information only, has no red ink stamp and is not a KNPC for visa purposes.

Applicants outside of Korea:  Unavailable.

Court Records

Available. Records of court judgments are maintained at the records section of the district public prosecutor. A certified copy of judgment (Pangyulmoon) may be issued either to Koreans or non-Koreans upon application in person or by letter. The application must include full name, date of birth, permanent legal domicile, date of conviction, place of conviction and the purpose for which the copy of the court judgment is required.

Military Records

Unavailable.

Passport and Other Travel Documents

The Korean government began issuing machine-readable passports on January 1, 1994. The old version of the Korean passport was issued at Korean Consulates until supplies were exhausted. The new passport is valid for an initial five-year period; it is extendible for an additional five years.

Koreans may carry a limited validity passport for one of several reasons and it is impossible to ascertain the reason for the limited validity by examining the passport book itself. Reasons for the issuance of limited passports may include:

  • Self-Choice: Applicants who wish to avoid the fee for a full validity passport can choose a one-year passport which costs less. This is the "PS" type passport and contains eight pages.
  • Pending Court Action: The KNP can stipulate a one-year passport be issued to persons under investigation or persons whose mandatory KNP clearance is pending for any reason. In the most serious cases, the KNP can request that no passport be issued. In cases where passport applicants are involved in a pending court action, they must request permission from the public prosecutor to receive a passport.

  • Conscription: Korea has nearly universal mandatory national service for males. However, exemption from military service is possible for men 31 years of age or older. Also, military service evaders and emigrants who are 36 years or older are exempted. Men who have completed their military service obligation do not need special permission to travel and are eligible for a full validity, 10-year passport. Males who are 18 years or older, who have not completed their military service obligation, or who are not otherwise ineligible for military service, must seek special travel permission from the Manpower Recruitment Administration (Byongmuchung) before a passport can be issued. If travel permission is granted, the validity of the limited passport will be limited to the approved travel period which in turn depends on the purpose of travel. Males under 17 years of age are not issued a passport with validity beyond December 31st of the year they turn 17 years old. However, if a male receives travel permission when he turns 17 years old, he can be issued a passport with validity beyond the year he turns 18 years old.

    Note: For Koreans, a man is 20 years old as of January 1, 2006, he he were born on any date between January 1, 1986 and December 31, 1986.

  • Other Unusual Validities: In some cases the validity is set at an arbitrary number of months and a stamp on page five of the passport restricts extensions. If this is the passport of a young man, aged 18-22, it may be connected to pending national service. In all other cases, it may result from the routine passport issuance KNP check being unable to fully identify the applicant. Often holders of these passports have an unresolved criminal record and these cases should be referred to U.S. Embassy SEOUL/CONS/INV for investigation.
  • Five Year Validity: This 42-page passport is the standard Korean issue; designated as type "PM." The "PR" or "R" five year passport is issued to immigrant visa applicants and to Koreans resident overseas. There are also "PO" (official) and "PD" (diplomatic) passports issued for five years. Dependents of officials and diplomats may be allowed to retain these passports for personal travel.

Special Clearance and Issuance Procedures

Do not send IV clearance requests to Seoul unless a CLASS check indicates derogatory information on file in Seoul. When requesting clearances, posts must provide full birth name and DOB, and KID number if available.

Visa Issuing Post

Seoul, South Korea (Embassy)

Address:

  • US Embassy Seoul/CONS, Unit 15550, APO AP 96205-5550
  • US Embassy Seoul/CONS, Washington DC 20521-9600 USA
  • US Embassy Seoul/CONS, 32 Sejongro, Chungro ku, Seoul 110-710 South Korea

Visa Services

All visa categories for Korea. Seoul also processes immigrant visas for Mongolia, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI, Saipan et al.).